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Bob Clampett
|died = May 2, 1984 (aged 70) Detroit, Michigan |cause of death = Heart attack |years active = 1931 - 1984 |spouse = Sody Clampett |occupation(s) = Animator, producer, director, puppeteer |children = Robert, Jr., Ruth, and Cheri| |alternate names = Robert Clampett, Kilroy}} Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett (May 8, 1913 - May 2, 1984) was an American director, producer, animator, and puppeteer, best known for his work with both of Warner Bros.' cartoon series, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Early Years Robert Emerson Clampett was born in San Diego, California on May 8, 1913 to Joan and Robert Clampett. When he was a toddler, he and his family moved to Hollywood where they lived next door to actor Charlie Chaplin and his brother Syd. While growing up in Hollywood, Bob was interested in and influenced by actors Douglas Fairbanks, Lon Chaney, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. At the ages of four and five, Bob showed extraordinary drawing talent which led to him wanting to do art, but decided to step up to cartooning and make comic strips. Later on, Bob showed an interest in animation, filmmaking and puppetry. He also began making his own short films subjects in his garage. At the age of twelve, Bob had his cartoons published by the Los Angeles Times ''including a full-page comic about the nocturnal adventures of a pussycat that was published in color in the Sunday edition. King Features Syndicate saw this and offered him a contract to start at seventy-five dollars a week when he finished high school. However, when Bob saw animation for the first time, he decided to become an animator and work for Warner Bros cartoons where he was paid ten dollars a week. Bob attended both Glendale High School and Hoover High School in Glendale, California, but dropped out of Hoover a few months short of graduating. One of his early jobs was working at a doll factory that was run by his aunt, Charlotte Clark. Bob helped design the first Mickey Mouse doll, due to the rising popularity of the character, but he was unable to find a drawing of the character so he decided to go to a movie theater and sketch some drawings of Mickey from what he saw. Career Looney Tunes Dispute Despite his legacy, Bob has been savaged by his coworkers at Warner Brothers, many of whom called him a "shameless self-promoter who provoked the wrath of his former in later years for allegedly claiming credit for ideas which were not his." Chuck Jones particularly disliked him, and therefore made no mention of him in his 1979 compilation-film ''The Bugs Bunny Road-Runner Movie, or his biography Chuck Amuck. In addition, voice-actor Mel Blanc accused Bob of being an "egotist who took credit for everything." Some of this antipathy may have been connected to Bob's "golden boy" status at the studio (his mother was said to be a close friend of producer Leon Schlesinger), which allowed him to ignore rules that everyone else was expected to follow. He also mentioned many things that were not true, in Bugs Bunny Superstar. Looney Works Characters Created Tweety1.gif|Tweety (original) GoofyGophers.jpg|Goofy Gophers Strifebeaky.jpg|Beaky Buzzard Mama buzzard.png|Mama Buzzard YoYoDodo.jpg|Yoyo Dodo Babbitandcatstello.jpg|Babbit and Catstello Gremlin2.jpg|The Gremlin Stork.png|The Drunk Stork An Itch in Time.jpg|A. Flea Mr. Meek.png|Mr. Meek After Looney Tunes After Looney Tunes, he created the show Time For Beany (which was parodied in a Pinky and the Brain short) and its animated spin-off Beany and Cecil. Gallery bob as a boy.jpg|Bob (right) as a young boy with his father working bob.jpg bob with award.jpg|Bob with a Grand Shorts Award trophy Clampett-unit.jpg|Clampett with his animation unit ClampettUnit001.jpg 1626-goodman03blancclampett.jpg|Bob Clampett with Mel Blanc TexChuckBob0001.jpg|Clampett pictured with his colleagues Virgil Ross, Sid Sutherland, Tex Avery, and Chuck Jones storynono01a-big.jpg|Clampett, in the center, with Michael Sasanoff, Thomas McKimson, and Hubie Karp during the production of The Great Piggy Bank Robbery circa. 1945 clampett.png|Clampett with Melvin Millar and Warren Foster circa. 1940 tumblr_nwzjohaAh21tb16fvo1_540.jpg|Bob with a young John Kricfalusi super clampett.png|Clampett in Bugs Bunny: Superstar swbiobobclampetthdg.jpg Bob-Clampett-and-Cecil.jpg|Bob with a puppet of Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent Bob_and_Ollie.JPG|Clampett with his wife Sody and Ollie Johnston tumblr_nn1t8cyk9z1tb16fvo4_1280.png|A caricature of Clampett drawn by Tex Avery from Bugs Bunny: Superstar tumblr_inline_no1axqKNZJ1s3enod_400.jpg 1626-goodman07clampettising.jpg|Bob receiving an award from Rudolf Ising bobby clampett g.jpg|Bob with Manny Gould? (left) 11820_1023213365.jpg|Bob's gravestone at the A Forest Lawn Memorial Park Baby bob clampett 2.jpg|A baby photo of Bob that would serve as the inspiration for Tweety. BobAsHitler.jpg|Bob as Hitler. DKg5lOcWkAAuPxR.jpg|Bob Clampett c. 1925 DKg6AZAXkAEBYhh.jpg|Bob at New York City c. 1945 Bob_chuck_norman.jpg|Bob with Norman Norman McLaren (left) and Chuck Jones (right) at the World Retrospective of Animated Cinema, Montreal c. 1967 Category:Directors Category:Animators Category:Producers Category:Looney Tunes Animators Category:Looney Tunes Directors Category:Real People Category:Deceased Category:1913 births Category:1984 Deaths